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Jessica Lave at My Book and My Coffee blog! Sooooo exciting! :) I was able to interview this author and I’m certainly glad I did - she is AWESOME! You lovelies probably remember, I published a cover reveal for her new book last week. And as scheduled, the book was officially released yesterday - March 28, 2013! Fabulous! :D Big Congratulations to Jessica! :D

So, please check out the interview below. Also, there’s a giveaway at the end of the interview so tune in.

Ara: Good morning, Jessica! I’m so happy to have you here at My Book and My Coffee. Welcome! I know you’re uber busy and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jessica: Good morning, Ara, thanks for having me back! I’m happy to be here.

That’s a heavy question to start with! Let’s see: I grew up in Colorado and have lived here my whole life. I graduated Colorado State University (Go Rams!) a few years ago with a major in philosophy. Though it seems to me that most writers tend to go for the English major, I found that philosophy challenged me much more than any English class ever did. I enjoyed the history, the experience of having my opinions tested, and learning how to approach the world in new ways. Though I didn’t do much creative writing at school, I’ve been writing in my spare time for many years. I have wanted to earn a living with my writing for some time now, but I just started publishing last year.

Ara: I gather that you’ve always wanted to be a writer. How young were you when you started writing stories? Do you plan to continue and publish any of your early works?

Jessica: The earliest memory I have of writing is when I was seven years old: I “re-imagined” a few takes on the fairy tale classic, “The Three Little Pigs”—basically the same story with different animals as the main character. However, the first original story I remember writing was when I was eleven. It was a time-travel tale about a couple of middle school aged kids.

As to the second part of the question, I’m not sure too many of my “earlier” works are worth publishing! A lot of them are very disjointed, immature, and perhaps a little too idealistic. I’ve definitely evolved my writing style and story development over the years. There are probably only a couple of those old stories that have enough plot and enough heart for me to rationalize working on them again with the goal of publishing them.

Ara: I understand. But I bet those stories are precious and they probably make you smile everytime you read them. :) From your bio, you mentioned that you don’t really fit into a particular genre as a writer. Why is that? That must be exciting, right?

Jessica: I think the best explanation for my lack of genre, or genre overlap, is that I have such a wide variety of interests and influences. I do have favorite genres in books and in film, but I don’t like to limit myself to one type of story, whether I’m reading it or writing it. Since I started publishing, I’ve been learning more about genres and how many sub-genres and categories there are these days! I’ve discovered a new genre, “new adult,” and I think most of my stories fit best into this category because of my characters’ ages and stages in life, but the tricky part comes in adding the sub-category to that. I’ve come to realize that my stories are not quite romance genre books, and they are not straight literary fiction, either.

I was very excited to discover the new adult genre, because I’d been struggling for a long time to define my stories, both before and after I got into publishing. When people ask what I write about, I used to have to explain things in much more detail, but now I can simplify it a bit by focusing on the new adult themes and definitions. It’s also kind of exciting as a writer not to fit into a single category. I don’t want to be that writer who only writes books about lawyers or cops or doctors. I love trying new things and pushing my limits as a writer, and not hitching my train, so to speak, to one genre allows me to experiment without hesitation.

Ara: I totally support that. As a writer, I would think that exploring to see where your creativity leads you is a good thing. It’s ‘healthy’. So, let’s talk about your new book! How cool! I totally love that cover - simple and classy. Jessica, please tell us more about this book.

Jessica: I’m so pleased you liked the cover! I’m an amateur artist when it comes to graphic design, so I tend to keep it simple, but I’m always glad to get feedback on it, especially when it’s positive!

The new book is a new adult story, and it follows the main character, Rylie Cates, through the first couple years of her life after moving to LA to become a screenwriter. It “officially” is out March 28th in paperback and ebook format (for Kindle), but it might take Amazon a couple additional days to fill out the page entirely.

Some of the major themes have to do with self-discovery and especially maturity, but friendship has one of the biggest roles in the story. It also deals with some other issues like alcoholism and promiscuity, which I feel are a big factor for young people who are around Rylie’s (and my) age, 18-25. With the college culture, and then adjusting to life after college, both of these things, as well as financial responsibility, are definite concerns for newly christened “adults” as they try to figure it all out.

Rylie doesn’t have the financial concerns that most people in this age group do because she was lucky enough to catch her break early on--getting her screenplay into a film festival, and then selling that script for a good amount of money. However, growing up without a lot of privileges, she’s very aware of how far she’s come, and that comes into play as well.

I want to get back to the friendship aspect, because it’s so crucial to the story. A lot of Hollywood, to us outsiders, anyway, seems to live life by the old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That idea is the foundation for Rylie’s life in LA. She may not know any real “A-listers”, but she makes some solid friendships throughout the book, and they all contribute to her success both in her career and in her personal life. Before I have you thinking the book is all sunshine and kittens for Rylie, she has plenty of obstacles to overcome, including some relationships and friendships that went awry, and actually end up doing some damage in her life.

Ara: Wow, I didn’t know that you designed it yourself. As I’ve mentioned, it’s simple but really classy. I LOVE IT! Interesting story. As a reader, I would definitely want to know more. So, what did you like most about Rylie Cates’s character?

Jessica: She is so strong! I tend to write my female characters with strong personalities and character traits, and Rylie is awesome in that way. She didn’t just sit around waiting to be “discovered”—she worked hard writing her screenplay, and then she put it out there for the world to look at and judge. She is a little cautious about some things (like me), but she takes chances, and she knows when to trust her instincts and when to pull back. Not to say she isn’t flawed—her addictive personality gives her grief throughout the book, especially in her love life, but she overcomes everything and anything that is put in her path. She’s a survivor, and at the time I wrote the book, I really wanted to see someone not only survive, but kick butt at something!

Ara: Awesome! I definitely like strong female characters. I’ve read somewhere that you’re planning to publish a sci-fi novel in the future. How’s that coming along?

Jessica: I JUST started writing sci-fi for the first time last year. I wrote one story last summer (after I finished A 21st Century Fairy Tale), and then I also wrote another one for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It was extremely intimidating because I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but I watch a lot of it. I wasn’t sure if I could do the genre justice, but I think both of my stories turned out extremely well for being horrible first drafts! I haven’t even begun to edit either one, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t even decided which one I want to work on first, so the progress on that is at a bit of a standstill for now.

Since I’ve been editing Quiet on the Set for months now, I hadn’t worked on writing anything new until just last week, and I realized how much I missed the creative process of writing. Writing is not only a joy or a passion for me, it’s a compulsion, so putting it on hold for so long while I worked on editing and publishing was kind of painful! I want to get back to writing for a few months—I’ve got about three or four new plots swimming around my subconscious right now—but later this year, I would like to get back to work on one of those science fiction stories for publication.

Ara: Wow, you’ll be super busy for sure. Thank you, Jessica, for being here @ My Book and My Coffee today. I really appreciate it. Before we end the interview, here are some random questions for you. I hope you answer them. It could be fun!

Coffee, sweet tea or hot cocoa?

Jessica: I don’t drink coffee, actually. I love the smell of it, but I’ve never liked the taste, even in candy! I usually choose chai tea or hot cocoa if I want something to warm me up.

Ara: If you have to choose one fiction book as your absolute favorite, which book will it be? It’s a tough question :) But if you had to choose one, which book will it be?

Jessica: Ouch, that is a tough one! These days, I tend to stick with my two tried and true favorites, Stephen King and Elmore Leonard, but if I had to pick an absolute favorite book, I have to go back further. There are many books that I’ve loved over the years, but I might have to go all the way back to about the first or second grade and say The B.F.G. by Roald Dahl. It was one of the first chapter books I read as a kid, and I might be able to credit Roald Dahl’s stories with the initial inspiration to become a writer. Growing up, I went through a few other phases of wanting to do other things like archaeology after seeing Jurassic Park, and wanting to be a lawyer (no idea where that one originated), but eventually I came back to writing, and Dahl, for inspiration. I remember quite clearly one of the first things I did after I decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up was to look up Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More because it includes a section of Dahl’s tips on writing! (See the section called “Lucky Break” if you’re interested—it mostly applies to children’s books, but as a new writer, it’s important to devour information and figure out what works best for you.)

Ara: I’ll check that one out! :) And you’re right about that – knowledge is useful one way or another. Finally, who is your favorite ‘friend’ from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?

Jessica: LOVE THIS QUESTION! I’m a hardcore Friends fan and ubernerd, and I love talking about the show! So, while I love something about all the characters, there’s no doubt Chandler Bing is my favorite. Chandler was always the funniest and the most relatable, I felt. All the other characters had their dream jobs, or were working toward them, and Chandler stayed stuck on the corporate ladder for years! I always felt like that was more realistic than most of the other characters actually being as successful and financially well-off as they were—those NYC apartments they had must have been WAY out of their price range! Chandler is the most quotable character, too. Everyone else had their moments, their funny faces, and their hand gestures, but I think Chandler always had the most, and the best, one-liners. He started out as more of a supporting, gimmicky kind of character, but his character evolved over the years and became even more lovable.

Thanks again, Ara, for having me here at My Book and My Coffee! I had a blast chatting with you!

Ara: “Stick a fork in me, I’m done” … Remember that? I love Chandler, too! But as for my favorite, I can never seem to choose one. I love them all! :) Thanks again for the opportunity. This was really fun interview. Thank you for answering all the questions! :D

Want to know more about Jessica Lave? Visit her website, follow her on Twitter and check out her other books on Goodreads.... as promised. Here's the giveaway:Important! Please read the guidelines. Thanks!- There will be one (1) lucky winner- Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL - just as long as the participant can accept Kindle Books directly from Amazon as a gift from the author.- Must be 13 years old and above to enter- Giveaway ends on April 17, 2013. Winner will be selected and announced on April 19.

Yes. I want to know more about marketing. I know something about it but I certainly would want know more about it.

Marketing. 9 letters, one word, and we all know what it means. We know it’s complicated and a bit tricky in a way but we do it. How do we do it? Lots of ways. How do we do it right? How do we effectively market something? In the book world, how do we effectively market a newly released book? Is there such a thing as “too much marketing”? Or do we know when it’s enough? These are the questions that fascinate me when it comes to this topic. I guess we’ve all done marketing in some form. As a blogger myself, I absolutely do marketing in a daily basis. I’ve come to realize that it is rather inevitable.

Anyway, I’ve done some research and I found these 5 interesting marketing books that I would surely want to read before 2013 ends. *fingers crossed*

From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes an exploration of the power of selling, which each of us does every day—whether we know it or not.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. More than fifteen million people earn their keep by convincing someone else to make a purchase.

But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales—but so do the other eight out of nine. Whether we’re entrepreneurs persuading funders, employees pitching colleagues, or parents and teachers cajoling kids, we spend our days trying to move others. Today, like it or not, we’re all in sales. Or as Daniel H. Pink puts it, everyone is in the “moving business.”

In this provocative book, Pink offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. He shows that sales, whether pushing a product or peddling an idea, isn’t what it used to be. Because of powerful economic changes, the glad-handing, truth-bending form of sales is a relic. In its place is a new approach to moving people that involves three very human qualities and four surprising skills.

As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Pink lays out the science for his counterintuitive insights, offers vivid examples and stories, and provides readers with tools to put the ideas into action. Smart yet accessible, bold yet well argued, this is the first book on sales for people who’ve never read a book about sales. It will change how you see your world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

The man Business Week calls "the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age" explains "Permission Marketing" -- the groundbreaking concept that enables marketers to shape their message so that consumers will willingly accept it.

Whether it is the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on the hope of snatching our attention away from whatever we are doing. Seth Godin calls this Interruption Marketing, and, as companies are discovering, it no longer works.

Instead of annoying potential customers by interrupting their most coveted commodity -- time -- Permission Marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily. Now this Internet pioneer introduces a fundamentally different way of thinking about advertising products and services. By reaching out only to those individuals who have signaled an interest in learning more about a product, Permission Marketing enables companies to develop long-term relationships with customers, create trust, build brand awareness -- and greatly improve the chances of making a sale.

In his groundbreaking book, Godin describes the four tests of Permission Marketing:

1. Does every single marketing effort you create encourage a learning relationship with your customers? Does it invite customers to "raise their hands" and start communicating?

2. Do you have a permission database? Do you track the number of people who have given you permission to communicate with them?

3. If consumers gave you permission to talk to them, would you have anything to say? Have you developed a marketing curriculum to teach people about your products?

4. Once people become customers, do you work to deepen your permission to communicate with those people?

And in numerous informative case studies, including American Airlines' frequent-flier program, Amazon.com, and Yahoo!, Godin demonstrates how marketers are already profiting from this key new approach in all forms of media.

Thirty years ago, Jack Trout and Al Ries published their classic bestseller, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind a book that revolutionized the world of marketing. But times have changed. Competition is fiercer. Consumers are savvier. Communications are faster. And once-successful companies are in crisis mode.

Repositioning shows you how to adapt, compete—and succeed—in today’s overcrowded marketplace. Global marketing expert Jack Trout has retooled his most effective positioning strategies—providing a must-have arsenal of proven marketing techniques specifically redesigned for our current climate. With Repositioning, you can conquer the “3 Cs” of business: Competition, Change, and Crisis . . .

CHANGE WITH THE TIMES: Use the latest technologies, communications, and multimedia resources to connect with your consumers.

MANAGE A CRISIS: Cope with everything from profi t losses and rising costs to bad press and PR nightmares.

Even if your company is doing well, these cutting-edge marketing observations can keep you on top of your game and ahead of the pack. You’ll discover how expanding product lines may decrease your overall sales, why new brand names often outsell established brands, and why slashing prices is usually a bad idea. You’ll learn the dangers of attacking your competitors head-on—and the value of emphasizing value. You’ll see how consumers can have too many choices to pick from—and what you can do to make them pick your brand.

Drawing from the latest research studies, consumer statistics, and business-news headlines, Trout reveals the hidden psychological motives that drive today’s market. Understanding the mindset of your consumers is half the battle. Winning in today’s world is often a matter of repositioning. It’s how you rethink the strategies you’ve always relied on. It’s how you regain the success you’ve worked so hard for. It’s how you win the new battle of the mind.

Even if you've created marketing plans before it doesn't matter. The rules have changed. With the advent of Web 2.0 business strategies like Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking, Pay-Per-Click, and dozens more, it may seem like you need to start from scratch. But with the brand new and completely updated fourth edition of Bill Luther's classic "The Marketing Plan", you'll learn how to navigate this perilous new landscape while actually generating a working marketing plan for your business. By answering questions in each chapter, readers will identify their marketing objectives and deploy specific strategies for every stage of the marketing cycle, from competitive and market analysis to planning, budgeting, brand development, and management. Featuring case studies and examples from major brand successes of the last ten years, the newest edition of "The Marketing Plan" is undoubtedly the most practical and the most up-to-the-minute - marketing strategy resource available. Complete with access to online software to aid in decision making, pricing, budget calculations, sales projections, and more, this one-of-a-kind guide provides everything you need to produce an impressive and professional marketing plan.

That’s a big list for me already. These books + Books from TBR = I am certainly way in over my head. :) But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? Anyway, I am sure I’ll only devour what I can. Is there such a thing as too much reading? I don’t think so, right? Anyway, how about you? Have you read one or some of these books? Any suggestions?

Kristina's stay at summer horse camp is horrible to say the least, and it's all because Hester and Davina are there as well, making her life miserable. When Hester's cruel prank goes terribly wrong, it's actually what sends the three girls back to the magical land of Bernovem. In Bernovem, Kristina is very excited to see her former friend, Prince Werrien. When he invites her to sail with him on his ship to his homeland Tezerel, putting it simply, Kristina can't refuse.

Reunited with her gnome, dwarf, animal, fairy friends ... and best of all, Werrien, things seem like they couldn't get any better for Kristina. But when Werrien becomes fascinated with an unusual seeing stone, the ''Black Shard'', Kristina is haunted by a ghostlike old hag. Struggling against suspicion, guilt, illness, and ultimately the one who wants to possess her soul, Kristina will see it's in her weakest moment that she will encounter more strength than she has ever known.

More about the Author:

Victoria was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now lives in Western Washington with her husband, Russ and their three children, Toby, Kristina, and William. Her other family members are a Chihuahua, named Pipsy and two cats, named Frodo and Fritz. Besides being an author, Victoria is a home-schooling mother of twelve years and an elementary school art teacher of eleven years. In her spare time, Victoria enjoys managing her two older children's Celtic band. She also loves writing, reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and just simply hanging out with her family and friends.

Cover reveal = new book to be released. I am so glad to be a part of this. Jessica Lavé, author of Realistically Yours and A 21st Century Fairy Tale, is about to release a new book, Quiet on the Set, next week (March 28). How exciting! :) Anyway, I am totally lovin' this cover - and I know that you would, too. So, here it is ...

Quiet on the Set Book Description:

When her screenplay gets accepted to a local LA film festival, 23-year-old Rylie Cates heads to Tinseltown, where she is thrust into the spotlight as her career takes off.

As she struggles to live up to her newfound success, Rylie meets the people who will become her friends, her guides to the city and the movie business, and ultimately, her “LA family.” Despite her best intentions, deciphering the politics surrounding her new career proves difficult, and she unwittingly makes a few enemies on her path to success.

Confronted by scheming studio executives, philandering movie stars, and the perpetual lure of the bottle, Rylie relies on her new friendships to help her navigate life, love, and business in Hollywood.

"Thanks for stopping by to check out the cover reveal for my new book, Quiet on the Set! It's my third book, and I'm so excited to share it here on My Book and My Coffee! The story is contemporary new adult fiction, branching off a bit into chick lit and women's fiction as well. It's also one of the few stories I've written that takes place in California, and the hope is that the sunset colors in the cover design remind you of a warm California summer day... Enjoy!"

About the Author:

By day, I work in a cubicle tending to an e-commerce website. By night, I blog, I review television shows and films, and occasionally, I settle down long enough to write a novel. I’ve always had a diverse set of interests, which has led me to study everything from ethics to yoga to film, but the one thing that has stayed consistent is my enthusiasm for writing. Writing is my way of bringing all of my interests together—I may not be able to speak six languages, pick the lock on a door, or cook a five-course meal without a recipe, but I can write about a character who can, and that’s the next best thing!

Let's all welcome Matthew Turner, author of Beyond Parallel, here at My Book and My Coffee. Earlier this year, Matthew visited My Book and My Coffee for an interview (See Matthew Turner's Interview here). It was an amazing interview as we learned more about his book, a little about him personally, and more. Today, he will be talking about New Adult ("the new genre on the block"). Check it out!

*****

The new genre on the block is NEW ADULT, a style of writing that focuses on characters aged 18 - 25 years-of-age. It's certainly garnering a great deal of attention with authors like Colleen Hoover, Tammara Webber, and Gail McHugh bursting onto bestseller lists, but is New Adult really new?

My name is Matthew Turner and I'm a new New Adult Author celebrating a campaign this week going by the name: A New Adult Man. Part of this is to announce that my debut novel, Beyond Parallel is FREE between 18/03/2013 - 22/03/2013; but a greater reason is to spread the love of the New Adult World.

What Is New Adult?

Current perceptions of New Adult are steered toward it being smut for teenagers and young adult erotica, and although there are many books who fit into this category, there are many more that aren't. Beyond Parallel, for instance, surrounds relationships but is far from a romantic novel.

When I read Hopeless from Colleen Hoover I didn't think romance, rather a story crafted around real issues that young people suffer with, and the same with Easy - by Tammara Webber - which again touches upon romantic notions but is about much grander issues.

At the moment the majority of readers and writers are female, but this doesn't have to be the case moving forward, and it's this what I hope the New Adult Man Campaign achieves. I have nothing against romance novels or books written by women - far from it in fact - but I believe New Adult can become a genuine genre helping an ever growing audience.

I hope you'll spread the word.

New Adult Isn't New

New Adult is a hot topic at present, but is it really new? I say not!

It's also full of women, but have men really been avoiding this type of writing? Again, I say not!

I want to share two books written by two talented MALE writers that I believe fit into the New Adult Genre long before New Adult was a real entity. Do you agree?

Starter For Ten by David Nicholls

I'm a big David Nicholls fan and feel he's the perfect example of a Male New Adult Writer. Starter for Ten focusses on a set of eighteen-year-olds, and although the entire story flits in and out of various relationships (including a few sexual scenes here and there) it's far from a romantic novel.

It looks at life away from home, drinking and partying and meeting new people, combining your studies with that special new girl, achieving dreams, discovering whether you actually want to achieve said dreams, and begin, for the first time, to consider jobs and life as a real life grown up.

This is New Adult if you ask me.

Starter For Ten was published in 2003 but in my opinion is a New Adult novel through-and-though. Smutty Teenage fiction it is not, but a story about young people, for young people… it most certainly is.

The Art Of Fielding by Chad Harbaugh

This is a great American novel that was published in 2012 (just as New Adult was hitting the streets), but I doubt few would associate it with the genre. Chad Harbaugh is a very talented writer who's extremely literary by nature, but The Art Of Fielding is again another example of what New Adult is all about.

It's set in college during freshman year as Henry Skrimshaw - a talented young baseball player - tries to take his skills to the next level and become a professional.

Again, the story has relationships and sex and love triangles (all regular ploys of New Adult novels), but the real essence of the story looks at friendship, growing up, and coming to terms with pressure from those around you. I'm not sure about you, but these are things that you tend to feel in your early and mid-twenties.

Again, not smutty in the slightest, but extremely New Adult.

What Does New Adult Mean To You?

At the moment I doubt any of the writers above would appreciate being associated with New Adult. The perception surrounds sex and steamy scenes, but I hope that in a couple of years time they all proudly link their name to it.

When writing Beyond Parallel I struggled with where to place it, but as soon as I found New Adult I knew I'd found its home. This is a genre for those living the young life, going through issues experienced in your early twenties, and trying to make sense out of the hazy world before you.

The New Adult Man Campaign will hopefully introduce this genre to new people and show them the grander potential it holds. I hope you'll search for your own opinion, read a few New Adult titles, and helps spread the love.

The New Adult Man Campaign is geared toward exposing this great new genre and showing that men can play a part too. JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT (https://www.facebook.com/events/498642426838956/) and help spread the word, discovering some great New Adult reads along the way.